HIGHLIGHTS YOUR UKAS QUESTIONS ANSWERED DEVELOPING ADVANCED MANUFACTURING SUPER-CHARGING SMART MANUFACTURING AUTUMN 2023 CONTENTS Page 2 – Editor’s Note Page 3 – News Page 7 – Employer support fund – what you need to know Page 8 - Why we need to do more about the UK’s advanced machinery sector Page 10 - Your burning UKAS questions answered Welcome to the latest issue of the BMTA newsletter. In this edition, we bring you guidance on what you need to know when applying for the Employer Support Fund and we answer your burning UKAS questions. We also hear from Ruth Mallors-Ray OBE on how the UK’s first advanced machinery institute –AMPI –is trying to create the environment for new machines, technology and skills needed to manufacture tomorrow’s products. As ever, we welcome your input on ways in which we can improve the newsletter and we’d love your submissions. To subscribe to the newsletter visit: www.bmta.co.uk. EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the Autumn issue of the BMTA Newsletter BMTA - the voice of measurement and testing BMTA was created in 1990 in response to the need for an independent ‘lobby’ for the private sector to speak with one voice to Government, UKAS, BSI and other official bodies on issues affecting the whole measurement, testing and calibration community. We encourage you to make your views known in the standards making process though your contribution to newsletters, participation in BMTA activities and membership of relevant BMTA and standards-making committees.NEWS BMTA 3 It is with great sadness that we bring you the news that Bill Lyons passed away on 21 September. Bill was director, managing director and chairman of Lyons Instruments and its parent, the Claude Lyons Group, from 1956 untilits closure in 2016. He was also an active and valued life member of BMTA as memberrepresentative for Lyons Instruments. Bill served on BMTA councilfrom the early 2000s until 2011, regularly representing the BMTA onthe Government Liaison Working Group (GLWG) and later theInstrumentation Industry Working Group (IILG) hosted by theScientific Instrument Makers' livery company and which liaised between government, the national laboratories, UKAS,instrumentation manufacturers and the measurement fraternity. He was also a long-time member of the Measurements AdvisoryGroup (MAC), chair of the Thermal Metrology Working Group and along-serving member of the Electrical Metrology and Knowledge Transfer Working Groups. Bill celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this month, surrounded by 90 of his friends and family, at an event held at Glaziers Hall, the homeof his livery company, The Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers of which he was Master in 1996-97. Bill will be much missed by all of his colleagues at the BMTA. BILL LYONS 1933-2023 Something to say? If you have any newsworthy stories, contributory articles or case studies, centred on the measurement, testing or calibration industry that you would like to see featured in the next issue of BMTA Newsletter, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Send your article to: editor@bmta.co.uk Industrial Metrology Forum The annual Industrial Metrology Forum takes place on 14 November in Manchester. The forum is a three-day conference showcasing the accomplishments of The University of Huddersfield’s Future Metrology Hub. The event, at the Ducie Street Warehouse, is free to attend for all researchers, developers and users of metrology and will feature a number of case studies of the hub’s work with industrial partners, a panel discussion on the emerging trends in metrology technologies and applications and an exhibition of new devices and research outputs. For more information visit: https://research. hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/centres/future- metrology-hubNEWS 4 BMTA National Manufacturing Day 2023 The UK’s second National Manufacturing Day took place on 28September. Led by the industry trade body Make UK, the day offered a chance for UK manufacturers to open their doors and demonstrate the opportunities available across the sector. The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre(AMRC) hosted more than 150 students and members of the public, showcasing cutting-edge technologies such as augmented reality(AR) and robotics alongside inspirational TED-style talks about advanced manufacturing. The University of Warwick took the day to celebrate its engineering internship scheme, which has more than 200 internships now complete. The internship scheme, which was established by the university’s Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) in 2013, places students in engineering internships at manufacturing businesses across the Midlands. Other organisations held recruitment events and factory tours. NMi Group acquires Avon DynamicCalibration Ltd NMi Group has announced the strategic acquisition of UKAS-accredited calibration and dimensional measurement specialist Avon Dynamic Calibration Ltd. This acquisition strengthens NMi’s foothold in the appliedmetrology and calibration industry and marks a significantstep forward in its strategic expansion in the UK. Adding Avon Dynamic to our portfolio further strengthens ourUKAS-accredited services, benefiting customers in the UK,Europe and abroad,” said Yvo Jansen, NMi’s CEO, “As a keyplayer in the European and UK manufacturing markets, we arededicated to assisting manufacturers in meeting regulationsand facilitating trade across both regions. Since 2021, our growth strategy has been marked by a commitment to profitability and professionalisation, achieved through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion.”NEWS BMTA 5 EURAMET calibration guidelines EURAMET Technical Committee for Mass and Related Quantities (TC-M) has recently published a new guide on the calibration of automatic weighing instruments. The guide, which is freely available to download, is the first internationally harmonised document of its kind and covers key aspects for the calibration process,including determining test load reference values, evaluating uncertainty and the contents of the associated calibration certificate. For more information visit www.euramet.org. LAB Innovations 1-2 November The UK’s only trade exhibition for the entire laboratory industry takes place on 1 and 2 November this year at the NEC in Birmingham. The event is aimed at anyone who wants to share the latest developments in laboratory equipment and processes, explore sustainable lab initiatives, or learn new ways to future-proof their lab. Supported by some of the UK’s top science institutions, Lab Innovations is a key event forpowering the business of science. This year’s keynote speakers are Dr Rosa Vàsquez Espinoza and Maggie Philbin. For more information or to register, visit www.lab- innovations.com. International Trade Week – Your chance to join in International Trade Week has launched its programme of events and is still looking for people to host events. International Trade Week takes place from Monday 6 to Friday 10 November and will feature more than 140 free events across the UK, online and around the world. The week – now in its third year – provides the opportunity for government and business to come together to champion, support and boost international trade. This year’s event features roadshows and webinars on everything from exports to skills designed to help businesses explore new markets around the world. Please register and explore the programme using this link: www.great.gov.uk/itw23.NEWS 6 BMTA Northern Ireland’s largest 5G testbed in Derry-Londonderry set to supercharge smart manufacturing Local technology consortium Smart Nano NI, formed to further the development of smart manufacturing in Northern Ireland, has launched the largest 5G testbed in Northern Ireland in Derry-Londonderry. The move marks a significant step in a five-year plan to accelerate smart manufacturing in the country. Led by consortium partner Digital Catapult, the 5G testbed is the organisation’s latest innovation activity to bolster economic growth and investment opportunity in Northern Ireland. The investment by the Smart Nano NI consortium will create a valuable, open access facility and provide expert technical support to local start-ups and businesses through the Digital Catapult Smart Nano Accelerator Programme. The ground-breaking testbed facilities will be delivered by the global IT and business consulting services firm CGI, in partnership with Digital Catapult Northern Ireland. The cutting-edge 5G and 4G private network is a first-of-its- kind smart manufacturing and education setting in Northern Ireland, providing access to the latest network technologies including 5G and NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and will be instrumental in upskilling the next generation of innovators and experts across the country. William Revels, managing director at Digital Catapult Northern Ireland, said, “This is an exciting milestone for the project as we bring access to the latest 5G technology to both industry and academia and enable businesses to take advantage of the substantial market opportunities offered by 5G. Derry- Londonderry will be the ninth 5G testbed in Digital Catapult’s nationwide network and we’ve seen the opportunities that can be opened up from providing the equipment and in turn de- risking innovation.” The development of these facilities follows CGI’s opening of a new delivery centre in Northern Ireland as part of its commitment to developing skills and talent in the region. Volkan Pakoglu, Director Consulting Services at CGI, added, “The integration of this new 5G platform will demonstrate the value of creating mobile private networks within business by taking full advantage of the power, performance, and connectivity of 5G. We are committed to working together with Smart Nano NI and its partners to support and facilitate innovation, sustainable solutions and use technology for good.” The smart education site at the Industry 4.0 Centre in the Northwest Regional College’s Springtown Campus, will give both students and industry access to test and explore new use cases of the 5G private network, while the manufacturing site, hosted at Seagate’s manufacturing facility, will give businesses the opportunity to test the technology in a live manufacturing setting. Digital Catapult has also launched an open call for the latest Smart Nano Accelerator Programme, giving businesses access to the 5G testbed for the first time. The Manufacturing Innovation Challenge is inviting innovative Northern Ireland start-ups and SMEs to join the programme and submit ideas for new technology solutions to solve manufacturing challenges. Following the completion of the programme, the participating Northern Ireland-based companies will have the opportunity to compete for a £75,000 grant from Techstart Ventures to continue to develop their business idea. Funded through Techstart’s Proof of Concept Grant Fund, this pre-commercial grant awarding fund supports entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland with grants to explore the viability and commercial potential of an innovative concept. Kathleen Garrett from Techstart Ventures said, “We are delighted to have partnered with Digital Catapult, Seagate and the Smart Nano NI consortium on this Manufacturing Innovation Challenge. We look forward to seeing the innovations develop through the accelerator programme and have no doubt that some exciting businesses will be formed during this process with the support & guidance of the accelerator and the £75k grant funding from ourselves.”FEATURE BMTA 7 Employer support fund –what you need to know The Employer Support Fund supports T-Level industry placements financially, helping cover the real costs of creating useful placements that bridge the gap between classroom learning and practical work experience. The fund is active until 31 March 2024, offering financial help with the legitimate costs associated with running effective industry placements, crucial for preparing students for the real world. Who can benefit? The fund is open to most employers involved in T-Level industry placements, including those in skills hubs and NHS trusts. What’s covered? The fund is designed to help with the various costs associated with creating T-Level industry placements. This includes things like setting up processes and systems, training staff, getting equipment and insurance and even providing transport . Supporting ongoing improvement The Employer Support Fund also covers extra training if it’s needed to make placements better for students or to improve the overall quality. If you already have employees doing T-Level industry placements with you, the fund covers the costs related to their placement hours. Payments and planning The amount you can claim for each student isn’t limited, but the total claim for all students can’t go over £25,000. The payment will come through your placement provider. They’ll work with you to figure out the best way to get the money to you. It’s also a good idea to think about any tax implications before you receive the funding. To find out more, email Employer.SUPPORTFUND@ education.gov.uk. FEATURE 8 BMTA Advanced machinery is an essential component of a modern economy – why aren’t we doing more in the UK to develop it? Ruth Mallors-Ray, OBE The global advanced machinery sector is valued at £125bn and significant producers are Germany, Japan, China, Korea, Switzerland and Italy. The UK holds just 0.5% of the global market. The machinery manufacturing industrial community has been considering how to grow the UK’s market share to contribute in a more significant way to the UK’s manufacturing sector and the wider economy. So what’s the problem? There are four overarching problems for the UK’s machinery development community. The first, is that despite there being some outstanding machinery developers in the UK, they are outstanding on a case-by-case basis. They are innovators, early adopters and insightful investors and are producing differentiated solutions to market challenges. As a collective they are not visible and their requirements as a sub-sector of manufacturing is not well understood. The second relates to knowledge of the UK’s innovation ecosystem – grants, academic collaborations, consultations, national strategies, etc – is low in this community. Primarily made up of SMEs these organisations, rightly so, are heads down delivering to their immediate market demands. Little do they know that there is a world of support out there for them. The third problem relates to an absence of a machinery manufacturers’ market led technology roadmap. The large vertical sectors such as nuclear, aerospace, automotive, pharmaceuticals, etc have well developed technology roadmaps in place aligned to both market opportunities and government policies. This is missing in the machinery manufacturing community. The fourth problem is probably the most challenging barrier to overcome as it relates to the status quo of UK manufacturing today. Broadly speaking, UK manufacturers select current machinery capability from overseas. It’s the norm so to speak and needs to be addressed. Each of these problems can be overcome and yes, AMPI is front and centre to achieving this. The creation of a strategy, the connectivity of the community and the direction of customer to a solution that has been born and bred in the UK Investment is fundamental To maintain a leading manufacturing base in the UK, it’s important to invest in operational efficiency and to be ready to respond to requirements that will see the need to make new materials, new electronics, ever more integrated systems. Such an investment, directed against market requirements, would unlock the industrial potential of emerging sectors and new materials, create high-quality jobs and make the UK more attractive for foreign direct investment. We need the UK to be the country the rest of the world wants to buy rather than sell to and this needs investment. Biomaterials that will glue us together, replace our bones and create replacement arteries need machines to make them. Advances in surgery to create efficient and effective processes will move towards robots and these machines need to be developed. To make electrolysers, machines are needed. To make Tempest, the next generation fighter jet of the MoD, and to have it at 30% additively made, machines are needed.FEATURE BMTA 9 Research and development In the main, UK focus is on the deployment and/or adaptation of existing technologies over the innovation of new. There is currently no UK research or innovation institute focused squarely at the needs of the UK’s advanced machinery sector. Those leading nations of Germany, Japan, China, Korea, Switzerland and Italy all have dedicated facilities to further advance their machinery capabilities and the UK currently imports it day to day, week to week, month to month. Mechanisms of existing research programmes can be prohibitive to SMEs in terms of costs, in terms of timescales and the general intermittent, stop-start approach to machinery development. A steady state of research, technology and innovation can be enabled with relatively low government investments over a sustained period. Step forward, AMPI AMPI (Advanced Machinery and Productivity Institute), headquartered in Rochdale, is an industry-led initiative helping UK based manufacturing machinery developers to collaborate, bringing innovative, cutting-edge and sustainable products to market. As a single, national focus, AMPI will be a national centre of excellence in machinery innovation, growing the advanced manufacturing machinery market to £2bn over 10 years by supporting machinery developers in their research and development and by upskilling their staff. AMPI will act as the custodian of a national manufacturing machinery technology strategy focused on market requirements as described by the UK manufacturing sector to forge a pipeline of innovation programmes to deliver the strategy by securing government and industrial investments into UK-based developments. We need to drive and deliver the connectivity between the stakeholders of machinery developers and, more importantly, connect customers and machinery developments through events, networking programmes and targeted interventions to accelerate machinery development in the UK and act as the enabler of machinery development in the UK. The overarching goal of AMPI is to enable the machinery sector to grow, for it to be recognised as contribution £2bn to the UK’s economy. It is ambitious but with leadership, investments and collaboration it can be achieved. We need SMEs and manufacturing leaders to join forces To leverage the energy and the creative spirit of the industry, AMPI now needs a suite of stakeholders to come together. We need Government and industry to jointly commit to the vision and to demonstrate this commitment through investment programmes. We need the machinery sector to step forward and ask to engage, to demand to know more. One of the biggest problems we’ve had so far is that the machining community hasn’t had its own voice. There are hundreds of small companies in the UK feeding the other sectors. AMPI will give them focus and help facilitate growth but they too need to now step forwards so that their collective voice can be amplified. Biomaterials that will glue us together, replace our bones and create replacement arteries need machines to make them. Advances in surgery to create efficient and effective processes will move towards robots and these machines need to be developed. To make electrolysers, machines are needed. To make Tempest, the next generation fighter jet of the MoD, and to have it at 30% additively made, machines are needed. We can keep on importing them or we can take industrial requirements, thread these into the machinery network and knit it with academic knowledge via an institute and make them ourselves. But to take AMPI from initiative to Institute we need some resources. Next >